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Home : News : News
JBSA News
NEWS | Feb. 24, 2016

Electrical system failure leading cause of home structure fires

502nd Civil Engineer Squadron Public Fire and Life Safety educator

It’s second nature for many of us to flip a light switch, plug in a laptop computer or charge your mobile phone. Electricity makes our lives convenient.

Nevertheless, we need to be careful and keep electrical safety in mind. Across Joint Base San Antonio, plenty of electricity is being used. Electrical fires remain one of the leading causes of home structure fires as reported by the National Fire Protection Association, or NFPA.

The electrical fires report calculates that an electrical failure or malfunction factored in 45,000 to 55,000 home structure fires reported to U.S. fire departments every year since 2000.

These fires, which account for 13 percent of total home structure fires, resulted in annual losses of 455 civilian deaths, 1,500 civilian injuries and $1.5 billion in direct property damage from 2007-2011.

Any type of equipment that uses electrical power can have an electrical failure or malfunction. Electrical distribution or lighting equipment accounted for 48 percent of home electrical fires in 2007-2011. Outnumbering overheating by at least 2-to-1 and as much as 7-to-1, arcing appears to be the explanation for most home electrical fires.

Here are some electrical safety tips:

• Have all electrical work done by a qualified electrician.

• When you are buying or remolding a home, have it inspected by qualified electrician.

• Only plug one heat-producing appliance such as a coffee maker, toaster or space heater, etc., into a receptacle outlet at a time.

• Major appliance such as refrigerators, dryers, washers, stoves and air conditioners should be plugged directly into the wall receptacle outlet. Extension cords and plug strips should not be used with a major appliance.

• Arc fault circuit interrupters, or AFCIs, are a kind of circuit breaker that shuts off electricity when a dangerous condition occurs. Consider having them installed in your home. Use a qualified electrician.

• Use ground fault circuit interrupters, or GFCIs, to reduce the risk of shock. GFCIs shut off an electrical circuit when it becomes a shock hazard. They should be installed inside the home in bathrooms, kitchens, garages and basements. All outdoor receptacles should be GFCI protected.

• Test AFCIs and GFCIs once a month to make sure they are working properly.

• Do not attach multiple extension cords together. This can cause a fire.

• Check electrical cords to make sure they are not running across doorways or under carpets.

• Extension cords are intended for temporary use. Have a qualified electrician add more electrical outlets so you won’t have to use an extension cord.

• Use light bulbs that match the recommended wattage on the lamp or fixture. There should be a sticker that indicates the maximum wattage light bulb to use.

Contact a qualified electrician or your landlord if you have:

• Frequent problems with blowing fuses or tripping circuit breakers.

• A tingling feeling when you touch an electrical appliance.

• Discolored or warm wall outlets.

• A burning or rubbery smell coming from an appliance.

• Flickering or dimming lights.

• Sparks from an outlet.

Refrigerators, ovens, washers, clothes dryers and dishwashers are in most households. Each appliance should come with instructions upon purchase, as well as safety guidelines that should be read and kept for reference.

One safety hazard in large appliances is that it can gather a lot of dust. Periodically, dust and dirt should be cleaned off of vents at the bottom of refrigerators to permit these appliances to run more effortlessly. After every load of clothing the lint screen of the clothes dryer should be cleaned of dust and dirt. A major contribution to a fire in a laundry room is the build-up of lint.

Also to be checked periodically is the dishwasher in the home to see that it is in good working order. If water isn’t draining properly or if there is a problem with water intake, the dishwasher can potentially heat up, leading to problems.

Ovens should be cleaned regularly to avoid a build-up of burnt food on the floor of the appliance. To avoid falling on top of a hot burner and causing a fire, oven gloves, pot holders and other flammable objects should be kept clear of the stovetop.

To avoid a little one opening an oven door and getting hurt, oven locks should be used if there are children in the household.

These safety precautions are simple to put into practice and simply require periodic inspection to ensure that they are in safe, working order. One can never be too safe when it comes to home and kitchen appliance.

To learn more about electrical safety, visit the National Fire Protection Association’s website at http://www.nfpa.org/education or call the 502nd Civil Engineer Squadron’s fire prevention division offices: JBSA-Fort Sam Houston at 221-2727, JBSA-Lackland at 671-2921 or JBSA-Randolph at 652-6915.